The success of virtually any business (regardless of the size, products, services, etc. of that business) turns in large part on the satisfaction of the business's customers. A business with highly satisfied customers is much more likely to stay in business and provide high value levels to its owners than a business that has poorly satisfied or dissatisfied customers. Understanding this, many businesses employ a wide variety of techniques, often dependent upon the nature of the business, to improve customer satisfaction. For example, a consumer products company may be most effective at enhancing customer satisfaction through the provision of effective repair/replacement programs, an enhanced website that provides customers easy access to frequently requested information, improved communications concerning product updates, etc. In contrast, a service provider may see improved customer satisfaction through improved communications concerning the nature of the services offered, an increased number of service offerings, more flexible payment options, etc.
Given the importance of constantly improving customer satisfaction, as well as the wide variety of techniques that may be used for this purpose, many businesses invest substantial resources carrying out customer satisfaction initiatives. Despite this, decisions concerning the implementation of customer satisfaction programs are often decided on the basis of instinct and intuition rather than knowledge and reason. As a result, it is often difficult to determine the effectiveness of customer satisfaction improvement efforts, e.g., which programs provide the most return for the investment of resources. In particular, it is often difficult to attach a specific value to such efforts, thereby improving the likelihood of inefficient resource allocations.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide tools that assist in the objective determination of the effectiveness of various customer satisfaction improvement techniques, thereby providing decision guidance that should lead to improved, if not optimum, results.